Related Content

I visited Tuesday night at its new location at the Hobo Railroad and was amazed by its size, scale and beauty as a light snow fell.

It was about 8 degrees and no wind, perfect for the 20 castle builders who were harvesting icicles and applying them to the frozen walls forming.

Internal, colored lights made the structure seem ever-changing.

This one is twice the size of last year's castle, which was at Loon Mountain's Adventure Center.

This year, there will be music and lights synchronized, using both Vivaldi's "Winter" and the theme song from the movie "Frozen" when you visit at night.

Dan Beck, who is lead builder of the ice castle, noted that the start was slow with warm weather pushing back the opening about a week.

But things have turned definitely in another direction this week for ice castle building, and he was around checking for freezing water lines, which spray out a fine mist to grow the ice castle walls. He has been working from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. in a frenzy to take advantage of the cold weather and the opportunity to open it.

Last year, he worked at the site in Utah which he said was not as large and complex as this one. It is roughly twice the size of last year's castle at Loon which was also built by the Utah-based company.

It is led by ice artist Brent Christensen.

There are only four venues across the United States.

Other sites are in Midway, Utah, not far from Park City, Stratton Mountain in Vermont and Eden Prairie, Minn.

Over 500,000 visitors have visited an Ice Castle since the company's establishment in 2009 and this is the second year for an Ice Castle in New Hampshire.

The hours will be Friday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on opening day, and thereafter Sunday through Thursday from 2 to 9 p.m.; Friday 2-10 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.

Amazing ice features include archways, tunnels, slot canyons, an ice slide that you can actually slide down, caverns, glacial waterfalls and a frozen throne.

When you enter you go past the first waterfall into a large courtyard surrounded by castle turrets of ice.

Tunnels are being built around huge bags of air.

The experience is very different in the daylight.

Glacial blue ice is seen during the day but at night, colorful LED-lit ice set to music can be seen.

People driving up and down Route 93 just north of the Lincoln exit will actually be able to see the castle through the trees, particularly at night, Beck noted.

For those who came to Lincoln last year, he notes that the experience is very different.

"It's bigger, better and more complex," he said. "It's a visual spectacular."

The typical visitor can tour the castle in a half hour, while others will linger for more than an hour to capture the beauty.

I spent an hour and I found it relaxing and captivating.

Parking will be a lot easier for visitors.

Last year, they vied for spaces with skiers and snowboarders at Loon. This year they have the whole parking lot to themselves as the Hobo Railroad at 64 Railroad Ave. is closed for the winter.

"The town has been working with us and we have plenty of water," he noted.